WRESTLING WEEENER of the WEEK: MATT HARDY

Whether you are sick and tired of him or feel sorry for him, Matt Hardy has tried everything to keep himself relevant when all he had to do was WRESTLE and be MATT HARDY. I look back at the YouTube clips of the Hardy Boyz in the WWE, their TLC matches with E&C and The Dudleys, The Mattitude Era, Matt Hardy ‘version 1’, his feud with Edge…heck, he even had the biggest pop in his career when Vince McMahon rehired him back in the WWE. I watch those clips and wonder what happened? Sure he’s no Jeff Hardy but he had that ‘I will not die’ momentum and as a face and/or heel he kept on coming until it was embedded that MH was here to stay. At one point it was cool to be a Matt Hardy fan. He was given the watered down ECW title, had a lengthy feud with his brother Jeff that led to a WrestleMania match in which he won, had a forgettable run as a mentor on NXT, was involved in the following year’s WrestleMania in the MITB match that began a feud against Drew McIntyre . Despite the Jeff Hardy issues with the drug charges/jump ship to TNA, you could not say the WWE did not give Matt Hardy the ball and the chance to grow into a much larger superstar.

AND THEN, he went to YouTube and started posting video after video that turned him from ‘Hopeful Veteran’ to ‘Annoying Drama Queen’. He began entertaining the IWC and the dirtsheets so much that his stock lowered…he became ‘that guy’. ‘That Guy’ at work who always complain about how much he hated the company he work for and the politics behind it instead of quietly asking for his release and moving forward. The desperate YouTube videos continued and months after his WWE release I thought a run in TNA would be cool. I’m thinking ‘Great. Jeff’s there, Shannon’s there, Helm’s isn’t doing anything these days…no brainer, OMEGA stable, Immortal feud, X Division resurrection, Hardy Boyz reunion, merchandise sales to the roof’. Rather than lay low, he continued to insult the intelligence of the IWC, worked the dirtsheets, and repeatedly teased his TNA debut. Maybe he would’ve had a louder reaction and STUNNED the wrestling world if he would’ve kept his mouth closed, kept the tweets at a minimum and stayed a bit discreet about his future endeavors.

When he finally made his TNA debut against RVD, he looked like a cross between Joey Mercury and Tyler Reks! It was a ‘there goes That Guy again and WTF happened to him’ moment. Decent TNA matches here and there but he still continued to pay more attention to the dirtsheets and the IWC and would eventually become a cocky lackey of his brother Jeff in the Immortal faction. Not sure if it was the drugs, the alcohol or a little bit of both but somehow he began sharing the same demons his brother faced. Unfortunately for him he isn’t OVER enough to be given 1st, 2nd and 3rd chances and if Jeff who could get a huge pop just about in any wrestling organization is barely getting chances these days, what makes Matt think he would be given the ball again when he purposely drew heat to himself by teasing suicides, spoiling his own spoilers, public intoxication, life threatening DUIs, etc.

When you try so hard to become relevant when you already are and try to be so unpredictable, you become predictable, annoying, desperate and WHERE DO YOU GO AFTER BEING RELEASED BY BOTH TNA & WWE?!?! Yep you guessed it, the place where all bitter mid-card wrestlers go after failed publicity stunts, REHAB! At this point I felt sorry for the guy and hoped that he gets his life in order and then it happened…kicked out of Rehab, Arrested, Jail Time! It’s a shame when things are finally starting to pan out for Jeff, Matt goes down. And it is sad really because with all the negative press and bad publicity, he LOVES IT!

I wish the best for him and hope he’s given a chance someday. There’s still hope and a Twitter-Youtube War with Zack Ryder leading to a WWE return and a match for the Internet title would be cool to see (only wishing here) and a Real Housewives of Pro Wrestling/Wrestling Wives-type show featuring Matt, Reba Sky, Jeff Hardy and his girl would make good TV (even for the WWE Network)…but as for now…

MATT HARDY, YOU ARE OFFICIALLY THE WEEENER OF THE WEEK!

In tribute to one of my favorite factions never assembled and as a fan of Shannon Moore, check out my video CHICKEN SH!T inspired by Shannon Moore’s old TNA theme song ‘Chicken Huntin’

Nice first blog. I wish the best for Matt I hope he gets better. I think Tna dropped the ball turning Jeff heel they could have reunited the Hardys and have some excellent tag team matches. Also I think you are spot on you don't talk shit about a previous employer its just shows what the potential employer that you are a douche. Also I wouldn't mind seeing Hardys return to the WWE.